Their Problem with Romance
by MessedUpEl
Summary: There is a-not so fine-line between friends and lovers. Zoro and Nami try not to fall on the wrong side after that one fateful night involving a little too much to drink and an empty cabin. Zoro begins to wonder if there's room in his life for one more dream, while Nami finds herself indulging in a little more than just sex. Rated M for sexual content and the author's dirty mouth.


I've been meaning to post this up for awhile as a one-shot but as I began to plan it the idea blew up into a full-fledged, multi chaptered fic. I love this piece of work and I've been dying to share it with all my fellow die-hard ZoNa fans. I wanted something interesting, emotional, gradual, and - sort of kind of - realistic, and sexy - because hey, let's face it, ZoNa became a thing in the first place because of how fricking sexy these two are.

The language is...well, a little coarse at times but I think it kind of suits these two. The concept is equally as coarse in some way but that's what makes it interesting. This fic is in no way intended to offend anyone, don't like, don't read. Like, seriously, if you're a Zobin fan reading a ZoNa fic...

Constructive criticism is welcome! This story is meant to go on till the end of One Piece altogether (like the anime so there are no spoilers for anime-only fans). I have no idea how the end is gonna pan out like if someone's gonna die, or if they get separated or something like that, they end up with someone else, etc. etc. I'm still gonna stick to ZoNa and canon One Piece as much as possible TILL THE END OF TIME. Or something like that. I will follow the anime as closely as possible because I STRIVE FOR REALISM! (anyone who has read the SBS *not-so-subtle wink*)

OK! ENOUGH ABOUT ME! TIME TO GET TO THAT JUICY ZONA ACTION -

* * *

WARNING: The following work contains coarse language, suggestive and out-right sexual material, drinking, yada yada yada, not suitable for anyone under 18, but hey, I couldn't stop you if I tried. Read at your own risk.

DISCLAIMER: One Piece and it's characters do not belong to me. They belong to Odacchi and Shonen Jump (is that even how you spell it? I'm too lazy to check but you get the gist)

* * *

\- Post Arlong, Pre Alabasta -

The first time they slept together it was an accident. No, really. They were drunk, sexually starved and taunted by the growing sexual tension between the them.

They fumbled around in the dark awkwardly, their heavy panting filling the silent room. The heat of the summer night unbearable as their hot breaths mingled with one another and their bodies became slick with sweat.

Neither of them really remembered it. The only remnants of that night were flashes of dark images, the intolerable heat and breathy gasps. They were flashes of skin against skin and lips against lips in wet, sloppy, desperate kisses. The sounds of their passion limited to moans, groans and the vulgar smacking sounds of skin against skin. The room was filled with the heady scents of sex and arousal, that was both overpowering and pungent. They could taste the sweat off of each other with every clumsy lick, kiss and bite, the flavour tart and briny.

The night had ended in high-pitched cries and guttural grunts of short-lived pleasure.

But it was the unforgettable morning-after that always brought a blush to Nami's cheeks and a light flush that crept up Zoro's neck. The recollection of that morning was no stranger to the two as it was played over and over again like a tape on repeat.

* * *

As Nami stirred from her sleep she felt like she had gotten hit in the head with a sledgehammer. Groaning and clutching her forehead, she sat up in groggily bed as another wave of pain hit her. It took a few moments for the drowsy remnants of sleep to wear off and for her to realise that she was wearing nothing but her log pose attached to her left wrist as per usual.

It took her another moment to find that there was something heavy and - strangely - warm and familiar draped over her stomach. Looking down she saw that her waist was held in a lazy grip by a tanned, muscular arm whose warmth made her feel uncannily at ease.

Nami swallowed the lump in her throat as feelings of horror and panic began to settle into the pit of her stomach and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest as fear threatened to consume her. Nami's chocolate brown eyes – now wide awake – trailed up the length of the arm whose weight held down her entire body and encased her in its warmth. Much to her mortification, she followed the arm to its owner whose unmistakable moss green hair and sun-bronzed skin stood out starkly against the white bedsheets.

Spread about upon the bed laid Roronoa Zoro: ruthless pirate hunter, swordsman extraordinaire, first mate of the increasingly infamous Straw Hat Pirate crew, notorious for his use of the three sword style, his ridiculously green hair and his sense of direction - or lack thereof.

Nami stared at the rippling muscles of his back and crown of bright green hair for what felt like an eternity. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. A small squeak escaped her as she hastily scrambled backwards and hit the back of the bed. Her breathing was harsh and her chest was heaving. Rays of sunlight streamed through the rounded windows and she was reminded of her current state of dress - or rather - undress.

Nami yelped as Zoro mumbled in his sleep as he tossed and turned in bed, the white linen sheets shifting to reveal his toned, muscled calves and the top of his – admittedly – damn fine ass.

"Oh shit..." Nami whispered in silent trepidation. _Exactly how much did I drink last night?_ She wondered absentmindedly as she stared at Zoro's fine – um – assets. Her cheeks heated as she recalled certain images from the night before when the green-haired swordsman bit the skin of her creamy neck, sucked the mark just to savor the taste of her skin, and licked his lips in satisfaction while she moaned like a whore.

Nami bit down on her lip hard as she brushed her fingers over the bite mark, a dull sensation of pain throbbing from the angry red splotch marring her milky white skin. Swallowing, Nami tucked her cropped orange hair behind her ears and slid off the bed in a hurry.

But in her haste, she tumbled off and onto the ligneous floor with a dull thud. Nami winced painfully, rubbing her smarting cheeks as she stood up slowly. Just as she crouched down to gather up her clothes that had been thrown haphazardly onto the floor in a messy heap, she heard a muffled groan and a loud, dreadful creak. She froze in mid-air as she turned to watch in horror and bated breath as her recent one-night stand began to sit up in bed.

Nami wanted to run. Fast. Out of the room – whose ever room it was – to anywhere away from the impending confrontation with the first-mate that was sure to be extremely uncomfortable. But the navigator was paralysed with fear, feet rooted to the ground and eyes wide with fright. She could do nothing but watch as her bed-mate blinked in confusion till his dark eyes cleared as they settled upon her naked form and nearly popped out of his skull.

"Nami!" Zoro yelled as he jerked up in bed, "Put some clothes on!" A burning blush crept up his neck that he struggled to suppress at the sight of the navigator dressed in nothing but her birthday suit. Her buttocks stuck out in the air as she bent over to reach for something on the floor. Her short copper hair was tangled and mussed and her expression was about as horrified as his, if he could imagine, if not more. One of her arms attempted cover her bare, ample breasts from view.

"Don't look moron!" She snapped angrily as she hurriedly turned away, baring the smooth planes of her naked back to him. Zoro twisted his head around abruptly so their backs faced each other. Then an awkward, stony silence drifted into the room.

"We did…didn't we?" Nami was the first to speak. Her voice was a terrified whisper.

Zoro remained silent for a few moments.

Then he cleared his throat abruptly, "You should get dressed."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Nami nodded, "Y-yeah." As she stared at the heap of clothes on the floor, ignoring the black boxers, she picked out her black dress, heels, and thong. She threw on her dress in record time, before darting swiftly out of the room, shutting the door behind her with a hasty slam.

"Fuck…" Zoro muttered as he settled down onto the bed heavily, he twisted his hair in frustration and clenched his teeth so hard they almost cracked. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…"

Had he lost all self-control? Had he gotten _that_ drunk? How had he gotten drunk in the first place anyway?

What the hell was he thinking? Sleeping with his nakama like that? _That stupid dress._ Zoro's expression soured. It was all Nami's fault, he concluded, for wearing something so damn revealing in the first place.

Zoro laid back on the bed, his mind conjuring up images of Nami in that little black dress - against his better judgement - that made her look so ridiculously alluring. Ok, so he found her attractive. He was a man okay, Zoro sniffed defensively. Their sexual attraction had been…apparent since they'd met that fateful day when he saved her from Buggy and his minions. He remembered the sight of her smooth, alabaster hands scorched black and angry red as she gripped the rope tightly. Her eyes squeezed shut in pain and from her mouth came a broken gasp but she held on tightly still. It was in that moment that he grew a tremendous amount of respect for her. A woman who was brave, who could stand up on her own two feet, who didn't take no for an answer, who commanded attention like a man and who didn't take shit from nobody. His thin lips quirked upward in a slight smirk of amusement. Nami really was one of a kind.

* * *

As the colorful lights danced overhead and the stars twinkled brightly in the midnight sky, Zoro watched as his crew mates fooled around on the deck. His crew mates, who'd become his close companions on the road he deemed to be unavoidably solitary from the start. The ship was decorated from head to toe with gaudy, colorful lights and raucous music drifted around the deck from a radio Luffy had picked up from an island not too far from Cocoyashi Village. Immediately after he'd done so, the captain declared that they have a party to celebrate the official formation of the crew.

Nami excitedly agreed to it, wanting to try out the new dress she'd bought with the money she'd so characteristically stolen from the Cocoyashi Villagers. A dress that Zoro couldn't figure out whether he liked or hated. Sanji agreed immediately after the navigator's exclamation, swooning at the mere thought of her in a dress. Usopp jumped at the chance to be able to do something fun for once. And Zoro went along with it because everyone else did…that and the free booze.

A round, wooden table was set in the middle of the deck that Luffy and Usopp were now goofing around on, Sanji was banging away noisily in the kitchen, whipping something up for his "Nami~SWAAAANNNN" and the delicious scent of his cooking wafted around the deck. Zoro leaned against the railing nonchalantly, guzzling down beer after beer and watched in silent amusement as Nami stomped over to the two idiots and whacked some sense into them. After the two apologized through swollen lips and black eyes, Nami stomped away, satisfied, and grabbed herself a beer, settling down next Zoro. The swordsman eyed the navigator out of the corner of his eye. Watching as her black dress rode up further than what was morally appropriate as she chugged down her own beer.

Nami grimaced, w _hat the hell was this soft-core beer?_

"Here," Zoro stuck his mug in front of her nose, the alcohol sloshing around in the cup.

Nami raised her eyebrow and took a hesitant whiff of the sake. Her jaw dropped, "Where the hell did you get the good stuff?"

Zoro shrugged, secretly pleased at her reaction, "Secret stash," he replied.

The talented navigator's cinnamon-colored eyes darted from the mug in front of her face to Zoro before taking a big swig of the drink and swallowing loudly. She grinned up at him and shifted closer, grabbing ahold of the booze, "I'll be taking this if you don't mind."

Zoro chuckled a little darkly, "Not at all."

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while before Sanji barged out the door in a tornado of hearts and drool, carrying a tray of delectable desserts and bowing as he handed Nami hers which she took with a sweet smile and simple thanks that was enough to give the cook a heart-attack.

Sanji crashed to the floor dramatically.

"Idiot," Zoro muttered.

Nami pointedly ignored the lovesick cook who scooted off after awhile and the two sat quietly for a stretch of time, watching Usopp and Luffy rush to Sanji, not out of concern, but to salvage whatever was left of the delicious dessert. A soft, melancholy look came into Nami's eyes as she smiled fondly at the trio and she murmured to Zoro, her voice barely audible, "Zoro?"

"Hmm?" the swordsman didn't bother to look at her.

"Do you ever wonder…what life would've been like…y'know, without Luffy?"

The moss green haired man snorted, "No."

Then after a moment he asked, "…why? Do you?"

Nami didn't answer for a long while and Zoro began to wonder if she had heard him.

"I guess...I would still be working for Arlong…and Sanji-kun would still be at Baratie, Usopp would still be the boy who cried wolf and you…well, you would still be hunting down people like us…today."

Zoro didn't reply until he felt Nami turn to look at him intensely. Her liquid, chocolate-brown eyes smoldering with unspoken words, curiousity, and an overwhelming emotion he couldn't quite place.

"I never thanked you, you know," Nami continued.

"Thanked me for what?" Zoro raised his eyebrows as he did his drink.

"Believing in me."

Zoro glanced at her, "You really expected me to believe that you had betrayed us for a bunch of slimy, over grown guppies?"

Nami let out a short bark of laughter and smirked lightly, "No…no I guess not."

"We've been through a lot…I was simply returning the favor."

He remembered the look on her face when she dived in after him, the fear, the determination, the jolt of emotion that sprung her into action, and the concern when she nearly beat him senseless and he couldn't see her shadowed face, save for the biting of her lower lip till it nearly bled.

His eyebrows furrowed when he remembered Usopp telling him earlier that night about Nami stabbing her own hand to save him. _That explains the black glove_ , he mused as he eyed the smooth, pink scar on her left palm.

"Oi Zoro!"

Zoro blinked, "What?" He asked the navigator rather rudely.

"You zoned out on me when I asked you a question. What were you thinking about?" She asked rather curiously.

Zoro studied her face for a moment. Drinking her in as her features as they bathed in the moonlight. Her hair looked windswept and effortless as it glowed in the dim light, making his fingers itch to run themselves through her short orange locks. Her large, smouldering brown eyes reminded him of melting chocolate and her lipstick painted lips shone enticingly, illuminated by the flashing party lights.

"You care."

Nami blinked.

"What?"

Deciding that he'd roll with it Zoro continued, "You care. About Usopp, and Luffy...you care about us. That's how I knew you'd never betray us like that."

Nami forced down the blush that threatened to colour her cheeks, "oh," was all she could say.

Zoro cleared his throat, trying to clear the air of the stifling quiet. "You were saying?"

Nami turned away again to face the deck, "Oh yeah. Just now when you said you were 'returning the favour.' What did you mean?"

Zoro shrugged, "You took a hit from that hypnotising guy with the white-hair and the weird-ass beard to get me my swords."

Nami was surprised he remembered, "oh, that."

Silence settled between the two for the next few hours as they drunk in peace to their victory and they watched their fellow crew mates, secretly amused by their silly antics.

Once Sanji decided to call it a night, Luffy was sprawled out on the floor in a snoring heap, Usopp was on his way to join him and Zoro and Nami had almost depleted the entirety of his secret stash.

"Damn it," Zoro muttered, his voice slurring, "I'm gonna have to restock."

Nami yawned lazily and a bit of drool coated the side of her lips, "It's three in the morning guys," she murmured as she checked her watch through half-lidded eyes.

"We'll clean up tomorrow," Usopp mumbled as he collapsed into a heap beside his captain and promptly began to snore. His nose and behind sticking up in the air comically.

Sanji bid Nami a good night's sleep in a swirl of hearts and headed off to the boy's cabin.

"Meat, Sanji," Luffy mumbled in his sleep.

"Idiot captain." Zoro heard Sanji mutter as he shut the door with a bang and Zoro couldn't help but agree.

Nami stood up from the ground and dusted herself off, nearly flashing Zoro her panties in the process.

Zoro stood up, having decided that he himself should head off to bed but was stopped by the slurred voice of a certain orange-head. "Oi Zoro, where do you think you're going?"

Zoro turned to her, a question on the tip of his tongue but she silenced him with a finger to his lips.

Zoro lifted an eyebrow in question, his face betraying nothing

Nami nodded her head at the stack of unopened beer bottles, a crooked grin on her face, "I'm not finished with you yet, Roronoa."

Zoro stared at the woman before him before a dark grin split his lips and he grabbed her wrist. Pulling it away from his mouth he leant down to meet her and murmured in her ear, "What makes you think you can handle me?"

Nami opened her mouth to reply but the feeling of his large, warm hand grasping her skinny wrist took of ahold of her tipsy mind as she tried to regain control of her uneven breathing. His scarred and callused hand against her unmarred, unblemished, milky white skin had her biting her lip. And as he bent down to whisper a chanllenge in her ear, her heart began to thud so loudly in her chest that she wondered how he couldn't hear it. His hot breath tickled her sensitive skin and it made her hairs stand on end.

"What makes you think I can't?" she breathed.

Zoro's dark eyes connected with hers as he pulled back. That shit-eating grin of his never leaving his face and his onyx eyes never leaving hers, Zoro bent down to pick up a bottle of beer with one hand and popped the cap before he lifted it to his lips and took a long sip, swallowing it tantalizingly slowly.

Nami's throat went dry as she watched his thin lips wrap around the mouth of the bottle and his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed the drink like it was liquid sex.

Zoro savoured the bitter taste of the liquor as it burned down his throat. His eyes boring into hers like smouldering hot coals on fire. He silently reveled in watching her dumbstruck and salacious expression. Her eyes half-lidded and burning with desire. Her enticing lips parted as she stared at him.

And he still hadn't let go of her wrist.

The last thing Nami remembered was her lips crashing into his, the flinging of a glass bottle, the banging of a wooden door and the rest of the night went black.


End file.
